


Ghost of You

by Multifandom_Baby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, He left a big little something, Heartbreak, Sad, Widow, Widowed, a final gift, and some lyrics are strangely relatable, barry’s gone, iris is sad, lonely, this is set recently after he croaks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 20:48:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_Baby/pseuds/Multifandom_Baby
Summary: It’s post-crisis and Iris is trying to cope with her husband’s death.Based on the lyrics of “Ghost of You” by 5SOS





	Ghost of You

**Author's Note:**

> So, yes, this will be sad. but, chances are Barry isn’t gonna die in crisis anyway. Enjoy this sad piece !

“ _Here I am waking up, still can't sleep on your side”_

It’s been a week. One week since Iris lost her husband in what can only be described as a freak accident. She hasn’t made his side of the bed since then, desperate to keep the shape of where his body used to lie every night, right next to her, keeping her safe and warm. Iris refuses to touch it, sleep near it, she’s taken the couch. It’s the mould of what used to be there, what used to be hers. He was her heart and her home. Only to be gone be quicker than he could ever run. Something finally caught up with him, at least that’s the way she see’s it.

It’s 4AM when Iris wakes up from her spot on their couch, 4AM feels standard to her now, it’s quiet, her family isn’t there to bother her or be patronising, as much as she appreciates the concern, it makes things worse. But at 4AM, she’s also alone. _Very alone_.

” _There’s your coffee cup”_

Iris stands up from the couch, glancing at her surroundings in the loft. Flowers and sympathy cards everywhere, it’s like a poster image of grieving and death has taken over her home, however, there are pieces of her husbands life left, the red coffee cup, detailed with a golden flash print. It was the last cup he drank out of, the last cup he received during his usual routine; a cup of coffee and Iris’ attempted breakfast. God she’s gonna miss the jokes about her cooking. _So much._

She rests her hands on the worktop, just staring at that red cup, she hasn’t had the heart to wash it or move it, because some of the last things he touched seem so precious to her. To her, it was like he was still here in a way, that there was evidence of another life in this apartment. 

“ _If I can dream long enough, you'd tell me I'd be just fine_ “

Since it’s 4AM, Iris doesn’t get much sleep and as much as she likes the quiet, part of her wishes she could dream of him. His presence, his smile, his eyes, his speed. Just, _him_. But she can’t. She knows that if she did, he’d be there in her dreams, reassuring her, telling her that, everything would be okay, that she could live in without him. She knew that he believed in her strength, above all else, that he trusted her to continue despite how hard things got, or will get. And she placed the past week in that knowledge, that she’ll get through this. She had a piece of that knowledge form the future, in the shape of the girl that was them put together, but she isn’t here. So now all she has, is his word. And she trusts that, but it’s hard because he’s not here and living in front of her and she can only try and dream. 

“ _So I drown it out like I always do“_

The next few months were a whirlwind, busy in and out, Iris drowned it out by throwing herself into her work, her journalism, her family that was still there, her friends and something, beyond unexpected, a final gift from Barry, the baby in her stomach. _Their_ baby. And it worked, but part of her felt numb, like part of Barry was missing even though she was carrying part of him. She felt empty, but so full of love. She had something that could forever remind her of Barry in present time, but she just wanted him now. And that’s all she has wanted for the past 5 months. And she’ll never get him back. He may have disappeared before, but this is different, because there is no hope of a return. So Iris will continue to drown it out, in an effort to be strong, to be what he loved her for.

“ _Dancing though our house, with the ghost of you”_

It’s now later, and the drowning out worked, but that stopped when the baby came. Nine months after her father disappeared, Nora West-Allen came into this world. This was the day that Iris confronted her emotions, because this life that was half her and half him was here. And she finally had something of him that was permanent, for as long as she will live. _He_ was in Nora’s eyes and her smile and as soon as Iris saw that, she couldn’t drown it out, it was no longer an option. She confronted his death and processed, so she could be the best mum to the baby in her arms, her little honey. And it worked. 

And five years later, in that same loft that she bought with Barry, Iris is dancing with her daughter in the halls, she’s so much like Barry that it’s like seeing a ghost, but it’s the best ghost she’s ever laid eyes on. And always will be. _Their_ sweet Nora. 

“ _And I chase it out, with a shot of truth”_

It’s a warm day when Iris decides its time. Time to take Nora to her father’s grave. And it’s not that Iris didn’t tell Nora the truth, it’s that she didn’t explain where he was, he was “gone”. But not in the sense of he left, it was just difficult to explain death, especially to Nora, considering it was her father. 

So when they arrive at his gravestone, with the words “Barry Allen, Son, Husband, Friend and Hero”, the two West-Allen girls stop dead in their tracks and Iris explains to Nora that this is her father’s grave, in a shot of truth. It hurt Nora for a bit like all shots do, but ultimately it made her feel better about it, he wasn’t just gone, and all of the pictures around the loft, of him smiling seemed more real because he once was there and so happy with Iris. And both girls knew how loved they were and would’ve been. And that was enough for the both of them. _His_ girls.

“ _Dancing through our house, with the ghost of you”_

Iris arrived home that same day, and puts Nora to bed with a book, The Runaway Dinosaur, also know as “dad’s favourite”, and she finally gets some time to herself. She’s sat on that same couch, she could barely leave half a decade ago, and she looks around yet again, that same coffee cup is on the side, after Nora drank her hot chocolate, and upon realising this, a smile forms on Iris’ face. She looks around item by item, and glances upon a picture of her and her husband, it’s at their vow renewal, and they’re dancing, but not a slow dance, it can’t be described, but Nora dances the same way. It was happy and fast, and Iris remembers it exactly. And as she realises this, she comes to the conclusion that Barry is never really dead, there is enough evidence of him left that, he is still here and Iris was just dancing though their house, with the _ghost of him._

_fin_.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment or to give me feedback! ❤️


End file.
